Saturn

A Something’s Extra EP: Side one

It’s not clear how it was decided which tracks would be ‘relegated’ to Songs’ companion EP, but surely Saturn was unlucky not to be considered worthy of a place on the main record.

This space-age ballad paints our Solar System’s second-largest planet in a utopian light - the place to escape all the misery we’ve created on Earth. A triumphant synth line heralds the start of the song, taking us into a regal march that’s part celebratory, part funereal.

But of course, the song was never actually intended to be about Saturn at all. Stevie played a version of it to eventual lyricist Mike Sembello in which he sang about going back to Saginaw, Michigan; Sembello misheard it as Saturn, so went away and wrote a song about that. With all due respect to the good people of Saginaw, we’re glad he did.